I, tоо, find it ironic that this comic iѕ unusually difficult tо understand, when it'ѕ apparently trying tо make a point about communications difficulties.

I don't hang out on the forums much these days, so let ⅿe ask: Obviously some text replacement games arе in effect. Have they bееn in place for some time? Or arе they new with this comic? If thеy'rе new, *that* would be a multi-modal prank of extreme worth.

The short hair guy is clearly leading the girl into the hole, therefore trapping her into an escapable situation in which she c­ann­ot s­ay no! These PUA are all misogynist pigs! Someone call the internet police and the troll patrol!! There's a maiden that needs to be saved!!!

Nylonathatep wrote:The short hair guy is clearly leading the girl into the hole, therefore trapping her into a escapable situation in which she c­ann­ot s­ay no! These bottom feeding scum sucker are all misogynist pigs! Someone call the internet police and the troll patrol!! There's a maiden that needs to be saved!!!

Kanonfutter wrote:It is refreshing with a strip once in a while that you actually have to sit down and read instead of just skimming. Makes the humor last longer.

I agree. I am sometimes annoyed with myself that when there are words, I'm naturally drawn to them, with the result that I skip through the comic, or piece of art, or whatever, too fast... when there aren't any words, I actually have to look at the pictures to derive meaning, and I appreciate it more.

Also, I wonder if this is how my dog experiences the world . Seeing as any words I have mean nothing to her, yet if I show her, she tends to get it...

*EDIT: I'm tickled at having stumbled upon a word filter I hadn't seen before! I'll inform my puppy that she's been upgraded to direwolf.

coredumperror wrote:*I had to misspell it because the forum is intentionally screwing up our communications. That's pretty clever.

It's not clever, it's stupid. Really, really stupid. It's something forum admins with an infantile sense of humor occasionally unleash on their users. Basically a "Hey, don't try to use this communication medium as a medium of communication!" day.

My reading of it was "communication is impossible, so don't try. Instead, use talk only to build a rapport, and then get people to actually do something you want them to understand." Given the real world, this does not seem like a viable option most of the time.

Instead, I find that being very respectful of people, trying to see where they're coming from, and trying to explain in a way that protects whatever ideas are really precious to them is the best you cann do. If what you need them to understand is exactly the inverse of something precious to them, your only hope is to change their social group and rewrite their identity, which is not easy (or necessarily ethical). Fortunately, most of the things we think are key components of other people's ideologies really aren't. You cann drill down pretty far before you hit that bedrock.

coredumperror wrote:*I had to misspell it because the forum is intentionally screwing up our communications. That's pretty clever.

It's not clever, it's stupid. Really, really stupid. It's something forum admins with a infantile sense of humor occasionally unleash on their users. Basically a "Hey, don't try to use this communication medium as a medium of communication!" day.

I think the m­oderators are allow to have fun on the forums once in a while. It's just a way to build a fun, relaxing atmosphere and to release their penned up stress and frustration. It's also allows them to get high from being on a powertrip.

Other popular forums also have this once in a while... last time Penny Arcade ran a whinning forum for people to post anything that usually breaks the rules on the forum. Something Awful does crazy things like this all the time.

edit: for some reason, "c.a.n" is being changed to "will" and "c.a.n't" to "won't" every time I post, that's adorable. "c.a.n" c.a.n not always be replaced with will!!

Have you considered using "cannot" instead? It is the generally preferred form over being split, but not necessarily over being contracted (it reads as more emphatic than the contraction). In split form, you suggest the ability not to do something vs. the inability to do something.

I also thought of Lode Runner. Apple II version of course. The XBOX version was rattling around in there, too, but not so indelibly burned into my memory in green phosphor.

phlip wrote:It took me a few goes to figure out what the hell was going on... which seems fitting, given the topic. My reading:

Spoiler:

Panel 1: White-hat guy sees a dangerous hole in the road.Panels 2-3: WHG tries to tell hair-guy about the hole, but all hair-guy hears is "WHG seems worried about something".Panels 4: WHG gives up, hair-guy doesn't understand.Panel 5: WHG rants to hair-girl about hair-guy not understanding, meanwhile hair-girl tells WHG about a hole in the ground.Panel 6: They part ways, WHG thinks that hair-girl is going to tell hair-guy about the hole too.Panels 7-11: Hair-girl meets hair-guy, they share stories about WHG, wander off, and fall into the hole WHG tried (and failed) to warn them about.Panels 11-12: WHG also falls into a different hole, that hair-girl tried to warn him about (which he ignored, thinking they were talking about the same hole).

Meanwhile:Panels 13-18: Beret guy sees a hole in the road, and goes to find bald guy. Rather than try to tell him about the hole, he drags him over and shows him the hole. They both walk away understanding that the hole is there.

I think Beret and Bald also get the benefit of really wanting to understand the danger because they were able to see that other people were injured because they didn't understand the danger.

KingErroneous wrote:This sums up every game the The Sims I've ever played.

lol <3

"She’s a free spirit, a wind-rider, she’s at one with nature, and walks with the kodama eidolons”

Eutychus wrote:Where did beret guy and the guy he warns come from? There's a hole at either end!

Maybe they walk with a bounce in their step?

Having become a Wizard on n.p. 2183, the Yellow Piggy retroactively appointed his honorable self a Temporal Wizardly Piggy on n.p.1488, not to be effective until n.p. 2183, thereby avoiding a partial temporal paradox. Since he couldn't afford two philosophical PhDs to rule on the title.

Nylonathatep wrote:The short hair guy is clearly leading the girl into the hole, therefore trapping her into a escapable situation in which she c­ann­ot s­ay no! These bottom feeding scum sucker are all misogynist pigs! Someone call the internet police and the troll patrol!! There's a maiden that needs to be saved!!!

Having become a Wizard on n.p. 2183, the Yellow Piggy retroactively appointed his honorable self a Temporal Wizardly Piggy on n.p.1488, not to be effective until n.p. 2183, thereby avoiding a partial temporal paradox. Since he couldn't afford two philosophical PhDs to rule on the title.

coredumperror wrote:*I had to misspell it because the forum is intentionally screwing up our communications. That's pretty clever.

It's not clever, it's stupid. Really, really stupid. It's something forum admins with a infantile sense of humor occasionally unleash on their users. Basically a "Hey, don't try to use this communication medium as a medium of communication!" day.

Quoted for truth. And heaven forbid you're on a site where it's not just something they do for a day but something they have implemented 24/7. At best, it's straight-up trolling; at worst, it's a cynical attempt to weed out all but the fiercest loyalists who will never question anything they do.

Last edited by Steve the Pocket on Mon Mar 12, 2012 7:14 pm UTC, edited 1 time in total.

cephalopod9 wrote:Only on Xkcd can you start a topic involving Hitler and people spend the better part of half a dozen pages arguing about the quality of Operating Systems.

Ameseree wrote:This got me thinking that the best way to tell someone something is to show them, generally speaking though.

Showing something to a person can be a very effective form of communication, but I don't think that's the intended message of the comic. The intent is best explained by the alt text: Adjust your method of message delivery to suit your audience and you will have the best results.

Red Hal wrote:Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?

You’ve got to be kidding me. I’ve been further even more decided to use even go need to do look more as anyone can. Can you really be far even as decided half as much to use go wish for that? My guess is that when one really been far even as decided once to use even go want, it is then that he has really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like. It’s just common sense. Sheesh!

There are two general categories of opinion: regular opinions and informed opinions.Please do not argue with me unless your opinion falls into the latter category.

phlip wrote:It took me a few goes to figure out what the hell was going on... which seems fitting, given the topic. My reading:Panel 1: White-hat guy sees a dangerous hole in the road.Panels 2-3: WHG tries to tell hair-guy about the hole, but all hair-guy hears is "WHG seems worried about something".Panels 4: WHG gives up, hair-guy doesn't understand.Panel 5: WHG rants to hair-girl about hair-guy not understanding, meanwhile hair-girl tells WHG about a hole in the ground.Panel 6: They part ways, WHG thinks that hair-girl is going to tell hair-guy about the hole too.Panels 7-11: Hair-girl meets hair-guy, they share stories about WHG, wander off, and fall into the hole WHG tried (and failed) to warn them about.Panels 11-12: WHG also falls into a different hole, that hair-girl tried to warn him about (which he ignored, thinking they were talking about the same hole).

Meanwhile:Panels 13-18: Beret guy sees a hole in the road, and goes to find bald guy. Rather than try to tell him about the hole, he drags him over and shows him the hole. They both walk away understanding that the hole is there.

Thank you so much

(I was already getting a headache trying to figure out what exactly was happening.)

coredumperror wrote:*I had to misspell it because the forum is intentionally screwing up our communications. That's pretty clever.

It's not clever, it's stupid. Really, really stupid. It's something forum admins with a infantile sense of humor occasionally unleash on their users. Basically a "Hey, don't try to use this communication medium as a medium of communication!" day.

I think the m­oderators are allow to have fun on the forums once in a while. It's just a way to build a fun, relaxing atmosphere and to release their penned up stress and frustration.